By Piper Rutherford | Staff Writer
Summer 2025 applications for line camp leadership, a program which provides students with a heart and love for Baylor the chance to practice leadership and customer service skills with the new freshmen and transfer students, are now open.
Megan Lassiter, assistant director for leadership and curriculum, said that the application can be found on the New Student Programs website and includes information about the role’s responsibilities and compensation.
“Our leaders will typically work 10 to 12 hours a week for orientation program support and work about 50 hours a week during the week of Line Camp itself,” Lassiter said. “We also just increased the wages to $12.50 an hour plus overtime, which students consistently hit during the summer.”
As for other benefits and perks of being a Line Camp leader, Lassiter said that leaders can expect to form close bonds and relationships with one another as they make sure that guests and families of incoming students are well-taken care of.
“This is many people’s first time stepping foot on Baylor’s campus, so our leaders become the face of the university, which is why we ask leaders about their major, year and involvement on campus on the application, since we want to share the wealth and allow for incoming campers to see all of the different parts of Baylor that students are involved with,” Lassiter said.
Important aspects of the application process include a short video submission as well as an applicant’s relationship with their faith, according to Lassiter. The video ought to be two and a half minutes long and show who applicants are before their actual interview.
“The role does require that you have an active, personal Christian faith affiliation, since you spend the entirety of the job pouring into the campers and their families, which is a great place to practice ministry,” Lassiter said.
After prospective leaders find out if they have been chosen, Lassiter said they will be prompted to sign up for a training course over the spring semester.
“In this class — which I teach — they learn more about how to practice leadership skills,” Lassiter said. “They also get insight into mastering conflict resolution scenarios when having potentially difficult conversations, building customer service traits and realizing that this job is a safe space for students to grow in their job portfolio.”
Former line camp leader and Port Arthur junior Jaden Nguyen said that some of his favorite memories were his interactions with new students and parents.
“I got to get closer to the campers during small group sessions where we would play team games, visit Independence and participate in fun traditions like having the campers create their own Sing acts,” Nguyen said.
While most of these activities include a lot of icebreakers, Nguyen said that Orientation and Line Camp is important to Baylor’s overall community, since it allows new students to ease their nerves about either going to college or starting at Baylor.
“This is a lot of campers’ first time going away from their support system at home,” Nguyen said. “So our goal as leaders is to cultivate a belonging for them in college so that Baylor feels like their home, which helps when the stressors of school or feelings of loneliness arise.”
As for the relationships that Nguyen made as a leader, they are still present in his life over a year later.
“I still get to see my line campers all of the time around campus, and many of them are now sophomores,” Nguyen said. “I ran into a couple of them this past weekend, and they gave me a hug, which shows how being a Line Camp leader lets you walk with these students not only during Orientation, but also after camp is over.”
